


In which nobody studies

by Crazy_luna



Series: Owari Magica [19]
Category: Owari Magica
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:34:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26810719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazy_luna/pseuds/Crazy_luna
Summary: Vanessa and Percy try and study but just ends up talking.
Series: Owari Magica [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815574





	In which nobody studies

Vanessa skulked around the school, classes had ended for the day and the only people sticking around were people with clubs, not wanting to return home so soon but nothing else seemed worth staying around in town for, she was heading to the library to catch up on some homework, she only noticed the distinct fro’ of mint green when she literally bumped into Percy.  
Admittedly, he totally hadn't been paying attention to where he was going. Percy was sick and tired of being at home, especially since his cousins and aunts and uncles had been inhabiting his space all week beforehand. He had been going stir crazy, but now at least he had an excuse. He'd been heading to the computer lab, just past the library, when he bumped into someone. His eyes had been focused on the video game in hand, and he fumbled to catch it before looking back towards... Whoa, hey. He knew her. He grinned. "Well, well, what have we here?" He joked.   
Blowing lose hair out of her face, it took a moment for Ness to put a name to the face of the only male magi in Seaford but when she did she cracked a smile; "Oh not much, just me making an ass of myself" she laughed, shrugging the embarrassment of bumping into someone away.   
"Hey, I'm the one who wasn't looking." He waved the controller, then closed it and put it in his hoodie pocket. "So, where were you headed? I'm trying to find something to do."   
"The library" she confessed "spending a good half of the week patrolling for witches and junk kinda means I've been falling behind on homework, like, on one hand I'm kinda like what's the point? yaknow? But on the other hand, I don’t want school to call my parents over this" it was nice to at least talk about this with someone who actually would have an idea on what she's talking about, anyone else would think she's being over dramatic since she couldn’t really tell them why it seemed pointless to worry about pythagoras or the difference between a noun and an adjective.  
Percy couldn't help but wince. "Yeah I'm... super behind too. Why don't we just study together? I'm better with one-on-one studying, the group stuff doesn't really do it for me." He had been home schooled up til this year. Big group stuff was his kryptonite... The only exception being a magi. He was okay at it, and they didn't expect anything from him. It was nice. Plus, battles kind of felt like a video game level, which was cool.  
"You were home school yeah? I bet homework must be really weird for you to do now" she smiled, holding the door for the library open for him.   
"Ah, homework is normal. That's basically all it was, homework and workbooks. It's the lectures and the group work that freak me out. I'd rather just be left alone, you know?" He ducked into the library. "Thanks, Nessa. Is that okay to call you?"   
"I'm good with anything" she noted "but yeah, I guess homework must've been the same as school work back then. How're you finding school, must be a big change on top of being a Magi"   
"You know in video games, when you have to follow the main story, but you're also doing all the side quests, and all the side quests are super hard, but you keep doing them because they're fun? That's kinda how it feels, if that makes any sense. Or, um, when you're playing Mario party but the only thing you care about is the mini games." He headed for one of the round tables in the corner, where even if they kept talking, it'd be muffled so no one yelled at them. "You know?"   
"I think so..." Vanessa scrunched up her face thinking about the comparison, it went a little over her head but she got the gist at least.   
"Sorry, is that a weird comparison?" Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "We could always like, play some games together. Maybe we could invite Ana too, and play games together!"  
"That...that actually sounds really fun" Vanessa smiled, relieved. "and it wasnt really that weird, I just never got the chance to play many"   
"Yeah, I didn't get out much, so it was the only way to keep me busy when I wasn't doing math workbooks and stuff. Plus then you could play mario party and stuff, and I know Ana needs to get out more too. Does she seem lonely to you, too?"   
Vanessa paused, to think about it "A little, I think it's worse after...you know, Etsuko, but yeah. I know what you mean" she nodded, regretting not having the chance to talk to Etsuko more at school as well.   
"Yeah. I wish... I wish there was something we could have done." He sat down slowly. "But Ana kinda seems like, like she needs more time to figure herself out? And like she needs more help to get used to stuff. Maybe us playing video games and hanging out could be good for her, show her that she has friends."   
"That sounds like a plan, yeah" Vanessa sat next to Percy and fished through her bag for her books, it's only when she sat back up did she realise her hair had gotten caught in some gum left under the desk   
Percy winced and leaned forward. "Oh, shit. Are you against cutting it free?"   
Vanessa tried tugging her long locks only to see more stray strands get caught. "Ugh. gross. I mean, it's that or i'm stuck here forever, why, do you have scissors"? She eyed his bag hopefully for something.   
"I have a pocketknife, I uh..." He pulled them out of his pocket, careful not to let it get caught by the camera in the library. "Not really allowed to have scissors. Overprotective parents." He flashed a smile and moved to sit on his knees next to her.   
"but you have a knife" Vanessa snorted "or are you just that much of a rebel"?   
"Yeah, what they don't know won't hurt them. Can I cut you free?" He rolled his eyes. Honestly, his mom would kill him if she saw the knife. So, he'd definitely kept it on the down low. He'd bought it with cash at some gas station on the other side of town, where his parents would never find out. And his mom was trying to respect his privacy, so as long as he didn't do anything obvious... He'd be good.  
"Please Percy Richards, you're my only hope" Vanessa said in a mock impersonation of Princess Leia, holding her hair taught to help him with the cut.   
Percy slotted the knife through it, and with a soft schlick the hair came down. He yanked the now non-attached hair and the gum stuck to it from the table, and tossed it into the nearby trashcan. Bless librarians, he thought as he slid the knife into his pants. "Better?"   
Vanessa examined her hair before smiling "Yeah, it's good. You could have a future as a stylist yaknow"?  
"A stylist? Nah, I'm not sure I'd be too into that." He offered a wink. "But maybe I could try giving you a haircut, if you're volunteering."  
"Ugh, god knows I need one" she contemplated it, she had kept it long mostly for her family, her grandmother loved combing it and her parents thought it looked nice, but since they were barely around...would they care? "We'll see, I don't think the librarians would appreciate me leaving my hair lying around here"   
"We could always go somewhere, as long as it's not my house I'm good." Percy sighed and leaned against the table. He didn't really want to study. Even though he really should, he just wanted to sit and talk to Vanessa. "And long hair is kind of a pain. I mean, don't get me wrong, it looks pretty on you, but it'd look good short too."  
"I always worry if it goes too short I'd end up looking like a guy, you know"? She laughed, she didn’t even want to study _before_ bumping into Percy and the thought of a huge change sounded nice "We could go back to mine, even if we don’t end up cutting it I can at least fix us something up" she offered.  
"That sounds nice. And you're not going to look like a guy, Vanessa, but if you're worried I could always just take it to shoulder length, or whatever you want. Or even just mid back, so you can still do stuff with it, but you don't have to deal with all the long, long hair everywhere." He smiled. "But it'd look good no matter what."   
"Aw, you're a real lady killer, aren’t you"? She laughed, bumping him with her shoulder and leading him out of the library   
"I mean, I have girls around me all the time." He shifted his backpack on his shoulder and laughed with her. "I've got a way about me, can't you tell?"   
Vanessa snorted again, she could tell why Ana was always so goo-goo eyes around him, he was a genuinely nice dude. "Well, a little. Once we crack you out of your shell you're pretty cool man"   
"It's hard to talk to people, you know?" He shrugged. "It's not to be rude or anything, i just don't know how to talk to people unless I'm used to them. And I'm used to you, and Ana, and Vondila, by now at least."  
"Well I hope so, we're all relying on each other at the end of the day" She noted as they left the building, her home wasn’t too far away but it wasn’t necessarily just across the road either   
"We'll survive. We're pretty good at it, you know?" Percy bumped her shoulder with his own again. :bulleetgreen:  
Shoving back good naturedly, Vanessa smiled at that. She hadn’t realized how lonely she was before becoming a magi and meeting the others and it was nice having people to hang out with.   
This was nice. Like, really nice. Plus he wasn't home! He didn't want to complain, but his home situation was really frustrating him lately. Not that his parents were bad people or trying to annoy him, but the only thing he wanted after every interaction with them was a pillow to scream into. Patrolling and fighting witches? It was helping. Friends were a nice bonus.   
Almost at hers, Vanessa began fishing for the key's to her penthouse, they had begun to enter one of the nicer parts of Seaford expensive cars lined the streets.   
Percy whistled in surprise. He lived on an upper middle class street, in a pretty nice house, but he hasn't been expecting this... "Wow, nice."   
"I guess so..." before visiting the Morson sisters and Ana, Vanessa had never really thought about the gap between her and her peers before and felt her cheeks flushing in embarrassment at the thought that they would think she's showing off. Finding her keys, she hurried Percy into her building, nodding at the doorman and went straight for the elevator.   
"It's cool, don't rush." He laughed a little bit, hand on her shoulder. "We're good, okay?"   
Blowing more hair out of her face, Vanessa shifted, still feeling a little weird at how flashy the building was. "Yeah, we're good"   
Making a snap decision, Percy lifted a finger and booped her nose decisively.   
"Whu"?! Nessa blinked in shock at that before laughing, the tension leaving her body   
"Better?" He asked, laughing a bit too.   
"Yeah, thanks man" They reached the top of the building and Vanessa led him to the door   
There was a flutter of excitement as Percy realized that his parents had no clue where he was, and that Vanessa might let him cut her hair off...  
Leading him inside, they were met with Vanessa's apartment, a minimalistic designed large kitchenette with plush furniture with one wall just being a window overlooking Seaford was quite the site. "Do you want anything to drink? Or any food"? She asked, shrugging off her coat.   
"Whoa, this is so pretty! Great view." He let his bag rest on the floor by the door, then toed off his shoes. "And do you like tea or something like that? Something sweet?"   
Vanessa thought for a moment before offering "Peach Tea"? she didn’t really drink the stuff but she was _sure_ they had some   
"Sounds good. Do you actually want to lose some hair? I can set up a chair in the bathroom... down there?"  
Vanessa indicated towards the door on the right before thinking about it. Did she want her hair cut? Maybe nothing too crazy, just to see... "Well, yeah, but like, just below my shoulder blades"?   
"Sounds good. Want me to cut a little bit lower than that first, then you decide if you actually want the rest of the trim?" Percy leaned on the back of one of the chairs, eyebrows high.   
"Nah, I still want it you know, shorter, but not too short after all this time growing it, you know"? She fished in the cupboards for the tea   
Percy nodded. "Sounds good to me, Nessa." He flashed a grin her way and carried the chair to the bathroom. The whole apartment was nice, like, really nice, and he kind of wanted to bring a console here so that he, Ana, and Vanessa could all play video games together. Wouldn't that be fun?   
:bulltyellow: Finding the tub of tea, Vanessa checked the date and was relieved to find it was still okay. Spooning in the mixture she fixed him up a drink.   
Percy headed back towards the main part of the apartment, humming to himself and smiling when he saw the kettle starting to steam up. "So, Are you going to drink anything?"  
"I will, I just normally have a smothie from the fridge. Did you do your own hair"? She indicated at the dye in his fro’   
"Oh, this?" He raked a few fingers through it. "My mom used to do it for me, but then I started doing it myself. The sides, though, she still does those. Steadier hands than me."   
Vanessa hesitantly touched his hair, she was impressed that it was still in good condition in spite of the amount of bleach that must've been in it. "Well I leave my hair in your not-so-steady hands"  
"I have good hand-eye coordination, even if they shake a bit you can still trust them." He offered a smile, gently pulling her hand down to squeeze it. "Are you ready now?"  
"Yup"! She smiled, squeezing his hand right back and leading him to the bathroom: bulletyellow:  
When they got there, Percy had her sit down. He found the scissors and gently held them in one hand, pulling her hair out of the pony tail with the other. Her hair was really silky, and he was almost jealous, but it was just really nice against his fingers. "You do have a really pretty apartment." He added after a moment, when he realized how quiet the bathroom was.   
Vanessa shrugged as best she could while still keeping her head still for him to cut it "I mean, its my parent who decorated it. Some bit's and parts are from me and my Nani's things. But thanks, I can't wait to see yours and play video games"   
"What if I brought some here, so me, you and Ana could play the games here? My parents are nice, but the carpets are this really ugly shade of pink. They've been meaning to get them done for years, but..." He shrugged, then finally took a few moments to measure her hair loosely with his fingers, and to find about where her shoulder blades were. "Really, really bad taste in carpeting."   
Vanessa laughed at the picture he was painting for his own home but relaxed. "Sure, it's not like there's anyone here who'll complain"   
"Do you like living alone?" Snip, snip, snip. The first few strands fell, and he kept going, slow and steady to make sure it was even.   
"Its...what I'm used to" Vanessa hesitated. Her Nani had only been dead a year and so she hadn’t really been _alone_ alone for long.   
"Yeah, that didn't exactly answer the question. I'm used to being lonely, too, but that doesn't mean I like it." Percy hoped she wouldn't be upset with him for prying…  
"I dunno, I mean. I never really noticed I was alone until I met everyone and actually hung out with people, you know"?   
"So it's something you'll think about, then? And if you're lonely, you can always call one of us." He offers. Methodically, snip, snip, snip.  
She contemplated it for a moment in silence before smiling "thanks man. I'll think about it"  
Percy offered a smile back. "I've always wanted friends, I've never really gotten to do the normal kid stuff. No sneaking out, no movies, no nothing. Just video games. So, yeah."


End file.
